在最接近的时刻，“新视野”号展现木星系统全新视野
Tuesday, 6. March 2007, 03:41:31
At Closest Approach, New Horizons Takes Fresh Look at Jovian System
By Amir Alexander
27 February, 2007
在最接近的时刻，“新视野”号展现木星系统全新视野
作者：Amir Alexander
2007年2月27日
Blazing through the Jovian system twenty times faster than a speeding bullet, New Horizons is almost exactly at the point of its closest approach to the planet Jupiter. Tonight at 9:45 pm Pacific time (5:45 am Universal Time on February 28) the spacecraft will pass within 2.3 million kilometers (1.4 million miles) of Jupiter before continuing on its long journey to Pluto and the Kuiper belt. The Jupiter encounter will give New Horizons a major boost along its way, increasing its speed by nearly 15,000 kilometers per hour (9000 miles per hour) and shortening its travel time by several years. But it is also the first chance for scientists to study the system up close since Cassini flew by Jupiter seven years ago.
“新视野”以比子弹快20倍的速度从木星系统中穿过，今晚太平洋时间下午9:45飞船将从距木星230万千米处飞过，继续其前往冥王星和柯伊伯带的漫长旅程。与木星的交汇将为“新视野”提供沿途最主要的推动力，将其速度再提升接近每小时15000千米，缩短数年旅行时间。但这乃是科学家在7年前“卡西尼”飞越木星后首次近距离研究该系统。
An artist's rendition of New Horizons fly-by of Jupiter on its way to Pluto, February 2007. Credit: JHUAPL/SWRI
艺术家展现的“新视野”在其前往冥王星的途中飞越木星。感谢：JHUAPL/SWRI
To make the most of the fly-by opportunity, the New Horizons team came up with a plan for no less than 700 separate observations stretching from early January to March. This is actually a greater number of observations over a more prolonged period of time than the spacecraft will conduct as it races between Pluto and it moons in the summer of 2015. “It is a stress test for the spacecraft” explained New Horizons Principal Investigator Alan Stern of the Southwest Research Institute, checking all its systems under “real life” conditions. If New Horizons performs well during the Jupiter encounter, then there is good reason to expect it will do the same in Pluto eight years down the road. So far it has been close to flawless. “The spacecraft has done everything we asked of it” said Stern, “there are no hardware problems, and everything is working normally.”
为充分利用飞跃的机会，“新视野”的小组提交了一份从一月初到三月的计划包含不少于700个独立的观测。这的确是个巨大的观测量，比飞船计划于2015年在冥王星和其月亮间跑过时要做的还多。“新视野”的主要调查员，西南研究协会的 Alan Stern 解释说：“这是对飞船的压力测试，在真实环境中检测其所有系统。”如果“新视野”在与木星交会期间表现得不错，那就有理由相信它在随后的八年旅程中会有同样表现。到目前为止情况近乎完美。Stern 说：“飞船作了我们所要求的每一件事，没有硬件错误，一切都工作正常。”
Among the observation highlights is an in-depth look at Jupiter’s atmosphere Previous spacecraft that have visited Jupiter, including the orbiter Galileo in the 1990's and Cassini in 2000, had recorded a turbulent region in the planet’s atmosphere to the northwest of the gigantic storm known as the Great Red Spot. When planning the encounter the New Horizons team decided to follow up on the discovery with close observations of this region, in the hope of learning more about the dynamics of the Jovian atmosphere. Much to their surprise, however, as the spacecraft approached Jupiter it became clear that the turbulence had all but disappeared, and the region is as calm as it was when first observed by Voyager in 1979. According to Stern, however, this is hardly a setback. Now that the disturbance is gone, he explained the reflective cloud cover is also gone, allowing New Horizons’ Ralph instrument the opportunity to obtain multi-dimensional images from deep within Jupiter’s atmosphere. “Instead of studying a disturbance we will be looking at the structure of Jupiter’s main atmosphere” said Stern.
在观测中比较重要的是对木星大气的深入观测，之前探访过木星的飞船，包括1990年的“伽利略”和2000年的“卡西尼”曾记录到的在著名的巨大风暴“大红斑”西北面一处狂暴的大气地带。在做交会计划的时候“新视野”小组决定对这一区域继续进行近距观察，希望对木星大气动力学进行更多研究。令他们非常吃惊的是当飞船靠近木星的时候这狂暴的片区域几乎消失了，如同1979年首次被旅行者发现时一样平静。按 Stern 的说法，这不太可能会复发。如今扰动已经不存在，他解释说反射云盖也已经不存在了，使得“新视野”的 Ralph 设备能有机会获得木星大气深处的多维图像。Stern 说：“代替扰动研究的是观察木星主要大气的结构。”
New Horizons will also be looking at Jupiter’s rings, first detected by the orbiter Galileo, searching for small moons orbiting inside them. Scientists know they are there, because the rings would not survive without them: the dust grains that compose Jupiter’s rings are too small to remain in orbit for long, before drifting into space or falling into the planet. If the rings persist then their supply of dust grains is being regularly replenished, and that almost certainly means that tiny moons within the rings are constantly shedding these particles. New Horizons will try to find them.
如同“伽利略”轨道器首次在木星光环中寻找小卫星一样，“新视野”还会对木星光环进行观察。科学家们知道它们就在那儿，因为没有它们就没有光环：组成木星光环的尘埃颗粒太小了，在飘入太空或坠入行星前没办法在轨道上停留很久。如果环是持久的，那么它们的尘埃就存在有规律的补给，这也就明确地意味着在环中的小卫星在不断的抖落这些颗粒。“新视野”将试图找到它们。
Jupiter and Io as seen from New Horizons
New Horizons captured this image of Jupiter and Io on January 21, 2007 from a distance of 61.5 million kilometers (38 million miles). The "Great Red Spot" is at the center, south of the equator. Credit: NASA / JHUAPL / SwRI
从“新视野”看到的木星和木卫一
“新视野”号在2007年1月21日从6150万千米处拍到的该照片。中央的是位于赤道以南的“大红斑”。感谢：NASA / JHUAPL / SwRI
Another major target for New Horizons is Io, Jupiter’s volcanic moon. Io’s surface is constantly being made and remade through the lava deposits streaming from its many active volcanoes. New Horizon’s Ralph imager will make a complete global map of Io, making it possible for scientists to see how much the fiery moon has changed since the previous global map was produced in 2000-2001. Ralph will also produce a temperature map of volcanoes on the moon’s night side, which will help scientists determine the composition of Io’s lava flows. The view of Io’s volcanic plumes has long been a favorite among space enthusiasts, and New Horizons’ will supply it share of these spectacular images, studying the manner in which they distribute minerals across the moon’s surface and atmosphere. A beautiful view of the plumes of the volcanoes Tvashtar and Prometheus was captured by New Horizons on February 26 from a distance of 4 million miles.
“新视野”的另一个主要目标就是木卫一，木星的火山月亮。木卫一的表面不断的被其众多的活火山涌出的熔岩沉积物重新塑造着。“新视野”的 Ralph 成像器将生成木卫一完整的全球图，使科学家可以看出子2000-2001年获取的前一幅全球图以来这个暴躁的月亮改变了多少。Ralph 还会生成木卫一背阳面的火山温度图，这将有助于科学家确定木卫一熔岩流的成分。木卫一火山尾羽的景象长久以来在太空爱好者中已成为盛景，“新视野”号将与之分享这一壮观景象，研究火山在木卫一表面和大气中散布矿物质的方式。在2月26日从距离4百万英里处“新视野”拍到了火山 Tvashtar 和 Prometheus 一幅漂亮的尾羽图片。
Io’s lively volcanoes do more than constantly repave the pock-marked surface of their moon. Every single second they also send one ton(!) of plasma into Jupiter’s magnetosphere, where it is trapped and forms a donut-shaped cloud around the planet. One of New Horizons main goals in the Jupiter encounter is to study this magnetosphere, and in particular the “magnetotail” which stretches for hundreds of millions of miles from Jupiter towards the orbit of Saturn. New Horizons will travel for several months down this tail, providing the first close look ever of the magnetotail of a planet. Stern and his colleagues estimate that New Horisons’ trajectory will take it around 150 million kilometers down the magnetotail, but they can’t be sure exactly; that is because a magnetotail, like other more familiar tails, can flap unexpectedly.
木卫一的活火山不仅持续塑造着其坑洼的表面，每一秒钟都有一顿的等离子体被送入木星的磁气圈中，在那里它们被捕获并形成一个圆圈状的云围绕着行星。“新视野”在与木星交会期间的一项主要目标之一是就研究该磁气圈，特别是从木星向外对着土星轨道延伸上亿英里的磁层尾。“新视野”将沿着该尾迹旅行数月，提供对一颗行星的磁气圈首次的近距考察。Stern 和同事估计“新视野”号的轨道大约会有1.5亿千米沿着磁层尾，但他们并不能确定；那是因为如同其他类似的尾迹一样，磁层尾会有无法预料的飘动。
Jupiter's "Little Red Spot" as Viewed from New Horizons
This composite of three images was taken on February 26, 2007, by the LORRI imager during New Horizons' fly-by of Jupiter. It shows Jupiter's "Little Red Spot"from a distance of 3.5 million kilometers (2.1 million miles). Credit: NASA/JHUAPL/SwRI
从“新视野”上看到的木星“小红斑”
该图片由三张画面合成，由 LORRI 成像器拍摄于2007年2月26日。它从350万千米的距离上展示了木星的“小红斑”。感谢：NASA/JHUAPL/SwRI
These are only samples from the complete list of 700 observations the New Horizons is currently undertaking as it speeds by the King of the Planets. Eager though they are to get their hands on New Horizons discoveries, scientists will have to be patient. Only a thin stream of “real time” data will reach Earth in the next few days, providing samples of observations and assurances that the spacecraft is operating normally. The mass of the data, or “the data fire hose” as Stern calls it, will be stored aboard the spacecraft for the moment. It will arrive on Earth gradually over a month as New Horizons speeds away from Jupiter towards its ultimate destinations – Pluto and the Kuiper belt.
这些只是“新视野”号借助行星之王加速时，正在开展的700个观察清单中的例子。虽然科学家们渴望得到“新视野”的观察资料，不过他们还要耐心等待。在接下来的几天里仅有实时数据细流会抵达地球，提供观察资料的样本和飞船处于正常操作中的保证。Stern 称其为“数据水龙带”的大量的数据，在此期间将存储在飞船上，它们会在“新视野”号脱离木星加速前往最终目标——冥王星和“柯伊伯”带后的一个月期间逐渐抵达地球。
If it is to continue on its way to Pluto as planned, the spacecraft must pass through a “keyhole” in space, only 300 kilometers (190 miles) square in size. If we consider that New Horizons travels 23 kilometers (14 miles) every second, and 1380 kilometers (860 miles) every minute, and that it has been traveling at such speeds for over a year with hardly any change of course, one can begin to appreciate what a remarkable feat of marksmanship it is for the spacecraft to thread its way through this keyhole. And yet, New Horizons is poised to do just that.
如果继续按原计划飞行，飞船必将穿越一个太空中仅有300千米见方的“锁眼”。假如考虑到“新视野”以每秒23千米也就是每分钟1380千米的速度在飞行，并且在一年的旅途中不会有任何改变，你就会意识到这对飞船要小心翼翼的传过这个锁眼来说是多莫非凡的枪法。但是，“新视野”号准备从容得面对。
Io from New Horizons
New Horizons' LORRI instrument captured this image of Io from a distance of 4.1 million kilometers on February 26, 2007. Credit: NASA/JHUAPL/SwRI
木卫一
2007年2月26日“新视野”上的 LORRI 设备从410万千米的距离上拍摄的木卫一照片。感谢：NASA/JHUAPL/SwRI
Original:
http://www.planetary.org/news/2007/0227_At_Closest_Approach_New_Horizons_Takes.html
By Amir Alexander
27 February, 2007
在最接近的时刻，“新视野”号展现木星系统全新视野
作者：Amir Alexander
2007年2月27日
Blazing through the Jovian system twenty times faster than a speeding bullet, New Horizons is almost exactly at the point of its closest approach to the planet Jupiter. Tonight at 9:45 pm Pacific time (5:45 am Universal Time on February 28) the spacecraft will pass within 2.3 million kilometers (1.4 million miles) of Jupiter before continuing on its long journey to Pluto and the Kuiper belt. The Jupiter encounter will give New Horizons a major boost along its way, increasing its speed by nearly 15,000 kilometers per hour (9000 miles per hour) and shortening its travel time by several years. But it is also the first chance for scientists to study the system up close since Cassini flew by Jupiter seven years ago.
“新视野”以比子弹快20倍的速度从木星系统中穿过，今晚太平洋时间下午9:45飞船将从距木星230万千米处飞过，继续其前往冥王星和柯伊伯带的漫长旅程。与木星的交汇将为“新视野”提供沿途最主要的推动力，将其速度再提升接近每小时15000千米，缩短数年旅行时间。但这乃是科学家在7年前“卡西尼”飞越木星后首次近距离研究该系统。
An artist's rendition of New Horizons fly-by of Jupiter on its way to Pluto, February 2007. Credit: JHUAPL/SWRI
艺术家展现的“新视野”在其前往冥王星的途中飞越木星。感谢：JHUAPL/SWRI
To make the most of the fly-by opportunity, the New Horizons team came up with a plan for no less than 700 separate observations stretching from early January to March. This is actually a greater number of observations over a more prolonged period of time than the spacecraft will conduct as it races between Pluto and it moons in the summer of 2015. “It is a stress test for the spacecraft” explained New Horizons Principal Investigator Alan Stern of the Southwest Research Institute, checking all its systems under “real life” conditions. If New Horizons performs well during the Jupiter encounter, then there is good reason to expect it will do the same in Pluto eight years down the road. So far it has been close to flawless. “The spacecraft has done everything we asked of it” said Stern, “there are no hardware problems, and everything is working normally.”
为充分利用飞跃的机会，“新视野”的小组提交了一份从一月初到三月的计划包含不少于700个独立的观测。这的确是个巨大的观测量，比飞船计划于2015年在冥王星和其月亮间跑过时要做的还多。“新视野”的主要调查员，西南研究协会的 Alan Stern 解释说：“这是对飞船的压力测试，在真实环境中检测其所有系统。”如果“新视野”在与木星交会期间表现得不错，那就有理由相信它在随后的八年旅程中会有同样表现。到目前为止情况近乎完美。Stern 说：“飞船作了我们所要求的每一件事，没有硬件错误，一切都工作正常。”
Among the observation highlights is an in-depth look at Jupiter’s atmosphere Previous spacecraft that have visited Jupiter, including the orbiter Galileo in the 1990's and Cassini in 2000, had recorded a turbulent region in the planet’s atmosphere to the northwest of the gigantic storm known as the Great Red Spot. When planning the encounter the New Horizons team decided to follow up on the discovery with close observations of this region, in the hope of learning more about the dynamics of the Jovian atmosphere. Much to their surprise, however, as the spacecraft approached Jupiter it became clear that the turbulence had all but disappeared, and the region is as calm as it was when first observed by Voyager in 1979. According to Stern, however, this is hardly a setback. Now that the disturbance is gone, he explained the reflective cloud cover is also gone, allowing New Horizons’ Ralph instrument the opportunity to obtain multi-dimensional images from deep within Jupiter’s atmosphere. “Instead of studying a disturbance we will be looking at the structure of Jupiter’s main atmosphere” said Stern.
在观测中比较重要的是对木星大气的深入观测，之前探访过木星的飞船，包括1990年的“伽利略”和2000年的“卡西尼”曾记录到的在著名的巨大风暴“大红斑”西北面一处狂暴的大气地带。在做交会计划的时候“新视野”小组决定对这一区域继续进行近距观察，希望对木星大气动力学进行更多研究。令他们非常吃惊的是当飞船靠近木星的时候这狂暴的片区域几乎消失了，如同1979年首次被旅行者发现时一样平静。按 Stern 的说法，这不太可能会复发。如今扰动已经不存在，他解释说反射云盖也已经不存在了，使得“新视野”的 Ralph 设备能有机会获得木星大气深处的多维图像。Stern 说：“代替扰动研究的是观察木星主要大气的结构。”
New Horizons will also be looking at Jupiter’s rings, first detected by the orbiter Galileo, searching for small moons orbiting inside them. Scientists know they are there, because the rings would not survive without them: the dust grains that compose Jupiter’s rings are too small to remain in orbit for long, before drifting into space or falling into the planet. If the rings persist then their supply of dust grains is being regularly replenished, and that almost certainly means that tiny moons within the rings are constantly shedding these particles. New Horizons will try to find them.
如同“伽利略”轨道器首次在木星光环中寻找小卫星一样，“新视野”还会对木星光环进行观察。科学家们知道它们就在那儿，因为没有它们就没有光环：组成木星光环的尘埃颗粒太小了，在飘入太空或坠入行星前没办法在轨道上停留很久。如果环是持久的，那么它们的尘埃就存在有规律的补给，这也就明确地意味着在环中的小卫星在不断的抖落这些颗粒。“新视野”将试图找到它们。
Jupiter and Io as seen from New Horizons
New Horizons captured this image of Jupiter and Io on January 21, 2007 from a distance of 61.5 million kilometers (38 million miles). The "Great Red Spot" is at the center, south of the equator. Credit: NASA / JHUAPL / SwRI
从“新视野”看到的木星和木卫一
“新视野”号在2007年1月21日从6150万千米处拍到的该照片。中央的是位于赤道以南的“大红斑”。感谢：NASA / JHUAPL / SwRI
Another major target for New Horizons is Io, Jupiter’s volcanic moon. Io’s surface is constantly being made and remade through the lava deposits streaming from its many active volcanoes. New Horizon’s Ralph imager will make a complete global map of Io, making it possible for scientists to see how much the fiery moon has changed since the previous global map was produced in 2000-2001. Ralph will also produce a temperature map of volcanoes on the moon’s night side, which will help scientists determine the composition of Io’s lava flows. The view of Io’s volcanic plumes has long been a favorite among space enthusiasts, and New Horizons’ will supply it share of these spectacular images, studying the manner in which they distribute minerals across the moon’s surface and atmosphere. A beautiful view of the plumes of the volcanoes Tvashtar and Prometheus was captured by New Horizons on February 26 from a distance of 4 million miles.
“新视野”的另一个主要目标就是木卫一，木星的火山月亮。木卫一的表面不断的被其众多的活火山涌出的熔岩沉积物重新塑造着。“新视野”的 Ralph 成像器将生成木卫一完整的全球图，使科学家可以看出子2000-2001年获取的前一幅全球图以来这个暴躁的月亮改变了多少。Ralph 还会生成木卫一背阳面的火山温度图，这将有助于科学家确定木卫一熔岩流的成分。木卫一火山尾羽的景象长久以来在太空爱好者中已成为盛景，“新视野”号将与之分享这一壮观景象，研究火山在木卫一表面和大气中散布矿物质的方式。在2月26日从距离4百万英里处“新视野”拍到了火山 Tvashtar 和 Prometheus 一幅漂亮的尾羽图片。
Io’s lively volcanoes do more than constantly repave the pock-marked surface of their moon. Every single second they also send one ton(!) of plasma into Jupiter’s magnetosphere, where it is trapped and forms a donut-shaped cloud around the planet. One of New Horizons main goals in the Jupiter encounter is to study this magnetosphere, and in particular the “magnetotail” which stretches for hundreds of millions of miles from Jupiter towards the orbit of Saturn. New Horizons will travel for several months down this tail, providing the first close look ever of the magnetotail of a planet. Stern and his colleagues estimate that New Horisons’ trajectory will take it around 150 million kilometers down the magnetotail, but they can’t be sure exactly; that is because a magnetotail, like other more familiar tails, can flap unexpectedly.
木卫一的活火山不仅持续塑造着其坑洼的表面，每一秒钟都有一顿的等离子体被送入木星的磁气圈中，在那里它们被捕获并形成一个圆圈状的云围绕着行星。“新视野”在与木星交会期间的一项主要目标之一是就研究该磁气圈，特别是从木星向外对着土星轨道延伸上亿英里的磁层尾。“新视野”将沿着该尾迹旅行数月，提供对一颗行星的磁气圈首次的近距考察。Stern 和同事估计“新视野”号的轨道大约会有1.5亿千米沿着磁层尾，但他们并不能确定；那是因为如同其他类似的尾迹一样，磁层尾会有无法预料的飘动。
Jupiter's "Little Red Spot" as Viewed from New Horizons
This composite of three images was taken on February 26, 2007, by the LORRI imager during New Horizons' fly-by of Jupiter. It shows Jupiter's "Little Red Spot"from a distance of 3.5 million kilometers (2.1 million miles). Credit: NASA/JHUAPL/SwRI
从“新视野”上看到的木星“小红斑”
该图片由三张画面合成，由 LORRI 成像器拍摄于2007年2月26日。它从350万千米的距离上展示了木星的“小红斑”。感谢：NASA/JHUAPL/SwRI
These are only samples from the complete list of 700 observations the New Horizons is currently undertaking as it speeds by the King of the Planets. Eager though they are to get their hands on New Horizons discoveries, scientists will have to be patient. Only a thin stream of “real time” data will reach Earth in the next few days, providing samples of observations and assurances that the spacecraft is operating normally. The mass of the data, or “the data fire hose” as Stern calls it, will be stored aboard the spacecraft for the moment. It will arrive on Earth gradually over a month as New Horizons speeds away from Jupiter towards its ultimate destinations – Pluto and the Kuiper belt.
这些只是“新视野”号借助行星之王加速时，正在开展的700个观察清单中的例子。虽然科学家们渴望得到“新视野”的观察资料，不过他们还要耐心等待。在接下来的几天里仅有实时数据细流会抵达地球，提供观察资料的样本和飞船处于正常操作中的保证。Stern 称其为“数据水龙带”的大量的数据，在此期间将存储在飞船上，它们会在“新视野”号脱离木星加速前往最终目标——冥王星和“柯伊伯”带后的一个月期间逐渐抵达地球。
If it is to continue on its way to Pluto as planned, the spacecraft must pass through a “keyhole” in space, only 300 kilometers (190 miles) square in size. If we consider that New Horizons travels 23 kilometers (14 miles) every second, and 1380 kilometers (860 miles) every minute, and that it has been traveling at such speeds for over a year with hardly any change of course, one can begin to appreciate what a remarkable feat of marksmanship it is for the spacecraft to thread its way through this keyhole. And yet, New Horizons is poised to do just that.
如果继续按原计划飞行，飞船必将穿越一个太空中仅有300千米见方的“锁眼”。假如考虑到“新视野”以每秒23千米也就是每分钟1380千米的速度在飞行，并且在一年的旅途中不会有任何改变，你就会意识到这对飞船要小心翼翼的传过这个锁眼来说是多莫非凡的枪法。但是，“新视野”号准备从容得面对。
Io from New Horizons
New Horizons' LORRI instrument captured this image of Io from a distance of 4.1 million kilometers on February 26, 2007. Credit: NASA/JHUAPL/SwRI
木卫一
2007年2月26日“新视野”上的 LORRI 设备从410万千米的距离上拍摄的木卫一照片。感谢：NASA/JHUAPL/SwRI
Original:
http://www.planetary.org/news/2007/0227_At_Closest_Approach_New_Horizons_Takes.html
